[Blackbelly] Barbados Blackbelly Growth on Grass only.

[Joanne Vaughn]

Hi Carol,

To follow up on your success on grass only:
Wow, so you are able to keep their condition up without grain during
lactation too?

I am looking at your climate charts in your neck of the grasslands. It
looks like you are able to
provide fresh graze during about 180 days of the year, with about 60-90
days being too hot for the
rainfall you have to sustain active growth and another 60-90 being too cold
and dry for the rainfall you have.

For your operation has it been possible (economically advantageous) to
stockpile forage for the non-growing months?
Do the BBs  gain weight on stock piled forage?
Do you know why (or can you suppose why)  there is a growth rate effect
related to season in the Northeast?

I ask because part of our plan is to work towards stockpiling forage to
carry over the winter non-growth months we have in the Northeast. So far we
have found our spring, summer and fall vegetative (mixed grasses, legumes,
and forbs) growth are productive. But of course the absolute vegetation
growth rate declines as the year progresses.

What is the method you use for determining forage protein content?

Joanne
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Re: [Blackbelly] Barbados Blackbelly Growth on Grass only.

[Carol Elkins]

Hi Joanne,

I give my ewes grain during lactation and gestation. Not a 
lot--perhaps 1 cup a day.


I graze the sheep on pasture grass from around mid-April to 
mid-October. I buy baled alfalfa hay during the summer to  feed to my 
sheep during the winter. Generally in my location we get 3 to 4 
cuttings of alfalfa. I try to keep enough in storage for the entire 
winter. I estimate about 9 bales of hay per sheep per winter. The 
ewes maintain weight on alfalfa hay; and I always have lambs eating 
it and they grow just as fast (which isn't very fast) as lambs on 
pasture grass. As I've said, I don't take weights on my ewe lambs and 
I only weigh my ram lambs when they have been slaughtered. But my 
data show that on average, my ram lambs get to 85-95 lb by 9 months 
regardless of when they were born and what they've eaten.


I can't help on your question regarding growth rate in the Northeast, 
but I'll email you privately with contact information for someone who can.


I don't worry about forage protein content on my grass or alfalfa 
hay. Most farmers around here have no idea what the protein count is 
on their hay. They can get top dollar for it without having that 
information. I've fed lush leafy alfalfa and stemmy alfalfa and old 
grass hay. One year I grew oat hay and baled it. BB sheep simply do 
well on whatever forage I give them. I think the better forages 
improve a sheep's overall health, resulting in fewer lambing issues, 
less sickness, and good worm load tolerance. In 16 years, I've had 
remarkably few problems with my BB sheep, and I attribute that to 
good food since that's about all I have to do for them.


Carol

At 03:43 PM 12/28/2014, you wrote:

Hi Carol,

To follow up on your success on grass only: Wow, so you are able to 
keep their condition up without grain during lactation too?


For your operation has it been possible (economically advantageous) to
stockpile forage for the non-growing months?
Do the BBs  gain weight on stock piled forage?
Do you know why (or can you suppose why)  there is a growth rate effect
related to season in the Northeast?

What is the method you use for determining forage protein content?


Carol Elkins
Critterhaven--Registered Barbados Blackbelly Hair Sheep
(no shear, no dock, no fuss)
Pueblo, Colorado
http://www.critterhaven.biz

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